Investing in Gold & Other Metals

Contrary to popular belief, to include the precious metals listed on CNN's commodities market listings; gold, silver, platinum, and copper are not the only precious metals that you can invest in. Often forgotten is palladium, a metal worth less than half of gold's current value but more than fifteen times the value of silver per ounce. Then there is Rhodium, which traded today at $467 more than Platinum at a whopping $2280 an ounce. Interestingly enough, no one ever seems to talk about trading these two metals. Palladium is even used in many countries to mint coinage, so it's a real mystery as to why you don't hear more on its trade. But because of rhodium's rarity, it is quite understandable why not many people are buying or selling it from day to day. Because rhodium is in fact the rarest precious metal, which was once only an industrial commodity, now that it is available for public trades it is quickly becoming a number one investment choice for those now learning of it. Only 25 tons of rhodium is mined every year, and demand is currently much higher than the supply. Rhodium is also currently the only precious metal not at its record high today, that happened in 2008 when it hit $10,000 an ounce, now the price is almost bearable, considering that current market conditions have poised the metal to rise again in value very soon.

Anyway, it might be best to stay away from precious metals all together when almost all of them are currently claiming all time record highs. Just think about how many commercials you have seen lately advertising gold. These are businesses that are in business to earn money, they have likely been acquiring their products for years and now they're trying to sell them at today's record highs because they stand to gain huge profits. Unfortunately, we consumers sometimes run with the crowd, meaning the majority of us are buying instead of selling because we're jumping on the band wagon. The problem with this is when these records highs prove to be the new bubble and burst, we will also follow the crowd by selling in record numbers further causing the devaluation of the precious metals we once thought were the best buy ever. So, think again before following the crowd and if you currently own precious metals think about selling them now or in the very near future. However, if you happen to be a dealer that is making money off the buying and selling of precious metals, don't worry there will still be plenty of people riding the band wagon, so when they start selling you can get your product back cheaper than you sold it and wait for the next spike.

Perhaps you're just interested in collecting coins for the numismatic (collector) value rather than as an investment vehicle for its intrinsic (current metal content) market value. There's nothing wrong with that and sometimes your collector coins end up skyrocketing in value because of the combination of its rarity and precious metal content. That maybe another good argument to sell, but if you are a hard core collector you may just want to show off or simply keep the coin to yourself for the future. Well, there you have it, some advice about precious metal investing that you can take or leave. So, whether you're a collector or investor, there is a time, place, and market for your hobby.